The lawsuit claims the recruiter refused to let the applicant respond to the report's findings
Perfetti Van Melle faces a class action accusing the confectionery giant of pulling a job offer without following federal background check rules.
The case, filed on February 18, 2026, in the Northern District of Illinois, centers on a hiring process that allegedly went sideways after a background report surfaced a criminal conviction — and the company moved to withdraw the offer before the applicant had a meaningful chance to respond.
According to the lawsuit, Ramiro Rodriguez applied for a Category Manager role at the company's Rockford, Illinois location in early January 2025. He went through the full gauntlet — a phone screening, multiple video interviews with senior procurement leaders, and a final interview with the Chief Procurement Officer. On February 20, 2025, he accepted the company's best and final offer and completed the required background screening questionnaire and drug screening that same day.
What happened next is where the case gets instructive for HR teams.
On February 25, Rodriguez received a copy of his background report from Selection.com. Later that day, the company's HR recruiter, Colin Connell, called to say the company was reconsidering. The lawsuit alleges Connell repeatedly interrupted Rodriguez during the call, refused to let him respond, and shut down any attempt to explain or dispute the findings. The offer was pulled, citing certain information in the report, including a criminal conviction.
The problem, according to the suit, is that none of this followed the process the law requires. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, employers who use background reports to make hiring decisions must provide the applicant with a copy of the report and a reasonable window to review and challenge it before taking action. The lawsuit alleges Perfetti Van Melle never did that.
A formal rejection letter did not arrive until June 6, 2025 — more than four months later — sent via an email that told Rodriguez he could not reply.
The suit also raises a separate wrinkle under Illinois law, which restricts the use of conviction records in employment decisions. The lawsuit alleges that the company's failure to follow the federal process prevented Rodriguez from addressing factors such as the time since his conviction, the nature and severity of the offense, and evidence of rehabilitation — points the statute entitles him to raise.
The case proposes three classes of affected individuals, potentially covering at least 1,000 people over a two-year period, drawn from the company's workforce of roughly 14,000. Damages sought range from $100 to $1,000 per violation, plus punitive damages.
No court rulings have been issued, and the allegations have not been tested at trial. A jury trial has been requested.
For HR leaders, the case is a pointed reminder: a background check is not the end of the process — it is the beginning of one. And skipping the steps in between can turn a single hiring decision into a class-wide problem.
